Over the past couple of days, I have been asked by a few readers if I am still using Associated Content. The answer to this question at this time is simple: no. Simply put, I have not had the time to write for them over the past couple of months. Even though I believe that this is a great way to supplement my freelance writing income, I have too many other projects lined up at this time.
The bad thing about Associated Content is that you have to write blocks of articles for it to be worth your time. And of course, writing a block of articles can take an hour or so. With my current workload, taking an hour out of my day to write these articles is not worth my time. Could I make time for this? More than likely. But as of lately, I have wanted to spend more of my day on developing projects outside of my freelance writing career.
For those of you who have not read my Associated Content posts in the past, check them out for detailed statistics. You may be surprised to find out just how much you can make with this service.
To answer the question of how much you can earn with Associated Content, you will have to try out the service for yourself. With that being said, through some estimates and simple stats, I can show you how much I would make if I were to devote more time to the service.
Through past experience, I get offered just around $5/article; sometimes more, sometimes less, but this is average for the most part. Additionally, writing five articles per day would not take me more than an hour most of the time. As you can see, this would work out to $25/day from Associated Content. Over the course of a week this equals $125, or approximately $500/month.
Sometime in the near future when things settle down, I hope to get started with Associated Content once again. It would be really nice to add an extra $500 to my monthly total.
The more freelance writing jobs that you have in the pipeline, the more money you are going to make. So wouldn’t it be nice if the clients that you currently have would start to offer you more projects? Well, there is a simple way for you to turn one freelance writing job into another and so on. The secret of doing this is easier than you may think: all you have to do is ask.
To illustrate this, let’s take a look at one of my business clients that I have been working with for more than a year. The first job that they ever asked me to complete was 100 keyword articles. While these are not the largest percentage of my business, I do write them from time to time. I figured that accepting the job was a great way to get my foot in the door with a mid-sized firm. Not to mention the fact that they were willing to pay nearly $20/article.
Once the first 100 articles were complete, the client expressed how pleased they were with the work. Anytime that a client tells you how good of a job you did, there is a good chance for more work in the future. Immediately upon hearing their feedback, I offered my press release writing service to them. From reading their website I knew that they were distributing press releases on a regular basis, but that they were not as well formatted as they could be.
By simply asking to become their press release writer, I received another huge project. The client hired me to write two releases a week at a rate of $50 for each one. Although my rate has since increased, the company has kept me onboard nonetheless. It has been many months since I started working for them in this capacity, and each week they send me a couple hundred dollars for these press releases.
Set a goal of trying to turn one job for a client into another. By doing this, you will have a better chance of retaining clients month in and month out, while also giving yourself the chance to increase your freelance writing income.
One of my biggest mistakes in my early freelance writing days was that I undervalued my worth. In other words, I worked for low pay because I didn’t think that I deserved more. While there is nothing wrong with starting out at the bottom, too many freelance writers work for peanuts for entirely too long.
The main reason that many freelancers are afraid to raise their rates is because they think they will get laughed at. But guess what? This very rarely happens unless you increase your rates above and beyond anything imaginable. Remember, clients are willing to pay good money for good work. Believe it or not, a lot of companies and webmasters have been burnt by low quality content in the past because they tried to skimp and save money. For this reason, they are more than willing to pay you what you think you are worth.
The question is: how do you determine what you are worth as a freelance writer? There is no easy way of doing this, and much like me, you will have to learn as you go along. With that being said, there are two points to consider.
1. How much experience do you have? As mentioned above, when you do not have a lot of experience you cannot command high rates. But luckily, as you build a client list and samples you can quickly increase the amount of money that you charge. There is no easy way of taking your experience and directly relating it to your rates. This is something that you have to decide on based on what you are comfortable with, as well as what you think your clients will pay. My freelance writing rates are always on the move, and yours will be too.
2. Although I have beat on this a lot in the past, I want to say it again. Find out what other freelance writers in your shoes are charging. I am always on the look out for other writer’s rates so that I know what I am up against. If my prices are lower, I know that I have a leg up on them from the start. If they are higher, I don’t lower my rate, but instead sell my experience and work samples against the competition.
It is important that you believe that freelance writers are worth a lot of money. Remember, content rules. If a company or website does not have the words to explain themselves or sell their product, they will be out of business in no time at all. For this reason, they are willing to spend a reasonable amount of money on a solid, reliable freelance writer like yourself. Â
